Seemingly Lost Causes, Spectacular Comebacks
For the 25th Anniversary of our flagship Seven to Save program, we wanted to look back with a thematic retrospective – highlighting seven themes we’ve seen pop up in our listings over the past 25 years. Over the course of the year, we’ll be digging into our STS archive to highlight places across the state that help tell a broader story of preservation in New York.
By the time some historic places end up on the Seven to Save list, they have suffered from years of vacancy and/or significant disrepair. Our final theme in this year's anniversary retrospective will highlight three such listings that have since gone on to have incredible transformations: the former Eastman Dental Dispensary in Rochester, the former TWA Flight Center in Queens, and Bent’s Opera House in Medina. All three are examples of sites that in addition to being named a Seven to Save, later went on to win the League’s annual Excellence in Historic Preservation Award – truly bringing them full-circle from at-risk to saved.
Eastman Dental Dispensary, Rochester, STS 1999 | Now: Eastman Gardens
Front facade of Eastman Gardens after restoration. Photo courtesy Home Leasing.
The Eastman Dental Dispensary had been vacant for about 20 years when it landed on our inaugural Seven to Save list back in 1999. It would languish for another 15 years or so before finding a second life as affordable senior housing.
Built in 1917, the Italian Renaissance-style brick building housed dental services and was the first school in the United States licensed to train dental hygienists. Funded by local philanthropist George Eastman of the Rochester-based Eastman Kodak Company, the Eastman Dental Dispensary contributed significantly to the improvement of dental hygiene in America — and Europe. Following the model set in Rochester (and likewise funded by Eastman), Eastman Dental Clinics were opened in London, Rome, Brussels, Stockholm, and Paris between 1929-1937. All of the Eastman Dental Clinics provided dental treatment for children whose parents could not otherwise afford it — and the interiors all reflected this commitment to children through hand-painted murals specifically designed for them.
Click images to view larger. All photo collages courtesy of Home Leasing.
The dispensary relocated in 1978 and the building was vacant as of 1984. In 1999, the owner wanted to have it demolished. Thankfully, its designation as a local landmark required Rochester’s preservation commission to review that demolition request, which it denied. The building anchors a major intersection leading into Rochester’s downtown. That visibility underscores the building’s importance to the City. In 2013, our colleagues at the Landmark Society of Western NY included the building on their 5 to Revive list of at-risk places. Still, it wasn’t until 2015 that work really began in earnest to transform this historic treasure. Nonprofit developer Home Leasing led the restoration effort, rehabilitating the space and turning it into 52 units of affordable senior housing.
Artist Karen Krupp-Tremer seen with her materials in the former children’s waiting room at Eastman Gardens. According to Home Leasing, “Most of the canvas panels are six feet tall, covering approximately 694 square feet and spanning nearly 115 linear feet. The mural covers the upper section of the interior walls in the community room and library of the building. The paintings illustrate a selection of Mother Goose nursery rhymes and are based on various old photographs of the original murals created by Clifford Ulp, a local artist and friend of George Eastman.” Photo courtesy of Home Leasing.
Despite suffering from significant disrepair, the building retained many of its original architectural features, including bronze detailing, mosaics, marble trim — all of which were meticulously restored. The original children’s waiting room featured a mural running along the upper section of the wall depicting scenes from Mother Goose nursery rhymes. This too was brought back to life thanks artist Karen Krupp-Tremer.
Twenty years after being named a Seven to Save, the League was thrilled to celebrate its transformation with a 2019 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award.
TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport, Queens, STS 2001 | Now: The TWA Hotel
Photo by David Mitchell
The former TWA Flight Center stands as a testament to Midcentury design aesthetics and the importance of its famed designer, Eero Saarinen. Built between 156-1961, it was one of Saarinen’s final works. The main structure features a wing-shaped roofline and the building is comprised of undulating shapes inside and out. When it opened in 1962, the TWA Terminal was heralded as a remarkable design achievement. It remained in use until 2001 at which point its future was unclear and piecemeal demolitions were being proposed — thus landing on our Seven to Save list.
Click images to view larger.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owned the building at this point, and thankfully stabilized and “mothballed” it to prevent additional deterioration, despite not having a reuse plan. This proactive step left the door open to a possible future reuse project, and earned an Excellence Award from the League in 2012. As we wrote then, “From the glass curtain wall to the ‘penny tiles’ – period finishes have been restored and the building is once again a significant part of JFK Airport.”
Fast-forward to 2019 and the former Flight Center is full of activity once again, this time as a hotel. After three years of construction, the TWA Hotel was opened. The restored Flight Center serves as the lobby for the hotel, and the cornerstone for the restaurant and conference complex. New construction to complement the Saarinen original houses 512 guestrooms, all with a Midcentury Modern design. Both the initial restoration that was completed in 2012 and the following renovation work to bring the hotel to life were led by Beyer Blinder Belle, with MCR/Morse operating the TWA Hotel. The League was proud to recognize this incredible project by honoring MCR/Morse Development Founder Tyler Morse with a Pillar of New York Award in 2021.
Bent’s Opera House, Medina, STS 2012-2013
Inside Bent’s restored theater space. Photo credit: Gene Avallone.
Bent’s Opera House is an anchor building in the Village of Medina’s Main Street Historic District. Constructed using local red Medina sandstone, the three-story structure opened on February 28, 1865 with three store fronts on the first floor, mostly offices on the second level, and an ornate performance space on the third floor. Built over 150 years ago, Bent's Opera House once hosted speakers like Frederick Douglass and entertainers like Buffalo Bill Cody. After the theater closed, the building served the community in a variety of ways until the 1990s. Bent’s was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995, but by 2010 it was abandoned and in imminent danger of collapsing.
At the time the League included Bent’s Opera House on the Seven to Save list in 2012, ownership had passed to the nonprofit Orleans Renaissance Group Inc. (ORG). Their main concern was stabilizing the building — since the space had not been used in decades, it had suffered from significant water infiltration, structural issues, and deferred maintenance. The inclusion of Bent’s Opera House as a Seven to Save provided an opportunity for the League to work with advocates to develop a strategy for returning the building to active use. The most pressing issue was the fact that the front facade was in danger of imminent collapse. In 2013, the League provided a loan to ORG through our Endangered Properties Intervention Program to fund this work. This was intended to be a first step toward the complete rehabilitation and reuse of the structure.
In 2016, local developer Roger Hungerford’s Talis Equity purchased the property from ORG. Talis brought on LeChase Construction Services and Kideney Architects to rehabilitate the historic building into a modern destination. After a careful restoration, the building reopened in 2021 with an upscale restaurant and bar, a boutique hotel with 10 uniquely themed rooms, and a beautifully restored theater for private and public gatherings. The rebirth of Bent’s Opera House is truly a model for how other small towns can revitalize their own historic opera houses — a ubiquitous building type across New York State that the League recognized through a thematic Seven to Save designation in 2018. The incredible transformation of Bent’s was recognized as such with a 2023 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award.